Realm of the Goddess (5 page)

I just stood there waiting for him to continue. I really had nothing more to say to him.

He must have sensed I was wavering, because he rushed his next words.

“Kali is reborn whenever evil threatens to overpower good. With the threat of Mahisha looming, we knew that she would be reincarnated soon. That’s what led us to you.”

Chapter Four

Shiv looked at
his parents. So did I. I was completely taken aback.

“What do you mean...led you to me. Who are you people?” I felt I should make a run for it, but there was something in their faces that made me want to stay and see how this played out. They were looking at me as if...as if they were seeing something...I didn’t know what.

“We are Rakshakari,” said Dev. “Protectors of the Goddess. A council was formed five thousand years ago to protect Kali when she failed to destroy Mahisha and a conspiracy was suspected. We are descendants of the original Rakshakari. We are guided to the Goddess whenever and wherever she is reborn. And we were drawn to this place...to you.”

“Why me?” An image flashed in my mind from my nightmares. A wild-eyed girl with a sword, blood and sweat staining her face. Could it be...no, it wasn’t possible. These people were insane and I should get as far away as possible from here. But...my nightmares...that creature.

“Callie, have you ever dreamed about something really strange?” Nina asked, looking at me intently. It made me uneasy. Had my parents mentioned something to them? We never talked about it, but...why was Nina asking me? How could she possibly know? They were looking at me expectantly.

“What do you mean, strange?” I wasn’t going to tell them anything until I was a hundred percent sure they were not crazy.

“Kali has been reborn a few times over the last five thousand years,” Nina replied. “Evil doesn’t really take a vacation.” Her feeble attempt at levity did not amuse me.

“Each time Kali was reborn as a human avatar, the subject experienced violent nightmares and started exhibiting signs of severe mental stress,” Dev said. “Not every girl was strong enough.”

“What happened to those girls?” There was a slight quiver in my voice, which I hoped no one noticed. When I’d started having the nightmares I had almost suffered a nervous breakdown. My parents had taken me to a therapist and my grandmother had taken me to see a
sadhu
, a holy man in some remote village, but in the end my parents had to uproot their lives and move thousands of miles away to start over. All because of me. But the nightmares had stopped until after my seventeenth birthday. And now these people were insinuating that I might be some sort of reincarnation of Kali. They hadn’t actually said it yet, but I could see it in their faces. Especially Nina, who was looking at me with a sort of fanatic light in her eyes. Shiv was answering my question, so I turned to him.

“You have to realize that the reincarnations happened centuries ago. Those girls didn’t have access to any information or anybody to help them, really. It was more difficult for the Rakshakari to locate them. Some of them succumbed to mental despair. Some were burned as witches. Some didn’t make it, even though the Rakshakari got to them. Not all of them had the psychological strength to withstand such a manifestation.”

“Okay, so let’s say, hypothetically, if someone had these nightmares, but they stopped after a while and then started again abruptly, what would that mean?” I knew I was being naïve thinking that they wouldn’t see right through me, but I wasn’t ready to admit or accept anything yet.

“Well, Callie, it would mean that the time has come for the Goddess to manifest in you completely,” Dev replied. “It also means that the threat is closer than we thought.”

“And my parents?” I asked, a pang of guilt shooting through my chest at the realization that this was not a myth, and there was no denying that they had been taken. Something deep inside me knew, had always known, maybe, that I was different. But never in my wildest fantasies had I ever imagined this. My grandmother’s face flashed before me suddenly in my desperation. She would have known what to do.

“Your parents will be alright, Callie.” Dev came over and put an arm around my shoulders. “They would never dare to hurt them. They have only kidnapped them to draw you out.”

I fell back onto the armchair, deflated. Everything was out of control. Every instinct in me was telling me that this was real, that there was no denying it anymore. But I had no idea what I was going to do, what I was
supposed
to do. How was I going to save my parents?

“So what do I do next?” I asked.

Shiv sat down beside me and took my hand. He looked into my eyes and for a moment he was silent. “Look Callie,” he finally said. “You are not alone in this.” He looked up at his parents, who were nodding.

“Yes, Callie, we are all with you,” said Nina, sitting down on the other side of me. “This is what we have been waiting for...what we were born to do. We are sworn to protect the Goddess and we will defend you with our lives.” She was freaking me out with her fervor, that crazy glint in her eyes again. But I did feel slightly less panicked.

“Can we go back to my house?” I looked at them pleadingly. “I need to see if there’s anything...a clue...something that can help us find my parents.”

“Yes, I think you and Shiv should go. Callie, you should also pack some of your stuff while you’re there. You’ll be staying with us from now on,” said Dev. “Nina and I will go to the Council and catch up the rest of the members.”

He didn’t really ask me if I was fine with his decision, and I bristled slightly at that. But then again, I knew that keeping me safe was his first priority now that my parents were gone. He wasn’t just going to let a young girl stay on her own, goddess or not.

He turned to Shiv. “Be careful, son,” he said quietly. “Callie, are you sure you’re up for this?”

I stood up. I felt dizzy for a moment, but then it was gone. “Yes, I am. Let’s do this.”

Shiv led me from the library down the hall to the front door. A silver BMW was parked in the driveway. I raised my eyebrows slightly at him as he opened the door to the passenger side. I got in and he drove us down the street to my house. Even though it would have been just as easy to walk, I was relieved that at least we’d have a way to get away fast if things got hairy. We didn’t talk until we reached the front door. As we approached it I noticed a transformation in Shiv. Gone was the laid-back, smiling guy I had grown to like...a lot. He was replaced by an intense, focused bodyguard who moved with a stealth I had only seen in spy movies. He pulled out a dagger from the back of his waistband. It was short, with a curved blade, but it was the handle that caught my eye. It looked like it was made of bronze and there were etchings of some sort running all the way up and down and around the sides of it.

Shiv motioned for me to stay behind him and then went absolutely still, his head cocked slightly to one side, listening. He checked the door handle, jiggling it lightly. It was loose, probably from when the demons had broken in before. He ran his fingers along the doorframe, checking the wood. I hadn’t noticed before but there were marks on one side that looked like someone had dragged their fingernails across. An image flashed before me of my mom being forced out by the demons. She would have fought them with all the strength she possessed. I shook my head to get the picture out of my mind. Then I headed into the house, following close behind Shiv, who had just gone in. He did a sweep of the downstairs first, going methodically from part of the floor to another, always watching for anything that might be a threat. I stayed close by his side, quite fascinated by how thoroughly he checked everything.

When he was satisfied, we headed upstairs. Nothing seemed out of place — except for the fact that my parents weren’t here and I didn’t know when I would see them again. I pushed down the lump that had been stuck in my throat ever since I’d realized my parents were gone. There was no time to wallow in my emotions right now. We checked the rest of the lower floor in silence then went upstairs to my bedroom. I remembered too late that my room was a mess and that Shiv was going to see it. Hopefully he’d think that whoever took my parents made the mess. There was nothing there, so we made our way to my parents’ bedroom. As soon as we walked in, the stench hit me. It smelled like sweat and feet and rotting eggs all at once. I cringed and looked at Shiv.

“That would be dead demon smell,” he said with a crooked grin. “It can get really nasty, you know.” I didn’t know. It wasn’t as if hanging around demons was what I did for fun. This was all so surreal. I felt as if I was watching myself go through all this. The stench was making me gag and I could only hold my breath for so long. I opened the sliding door, stepped out onto the little balcony and took big gulps of the fresh, demon-free air. The balcony overlooked a green belt that led into a golf course. I had loved hanging out here with a glass of milk and a plate of cookies while my mom got dressed up for one of the many Indian social functions that took place throughout the year. I would watch her drape a
sari
around her, put on matching glass bangles and stick a little sparkly
bindi
on her forehead. Now I looked in and saw their room in disarray, the comforter on the floor, a large gash through it. There was a dark stain on the cream-colored rug at the foot of the bed. That was where the demon had been standing when Shiv killed it. I felt anger well up at the thought that someone had just walked in and taken my parents. All because they wanted to get at me. I walked back in, determined to find something to tell me where they might be. Shiv was standing over the stain on the rug.

“I don’t think that’s coming out,” he said, shrugging apologetically.

“Hey, you saved my life, Shiv. I’m sure my parents will get over the rug,” I said, flashing him a smile. It was true. When they were back, they would not care about it. They would gush about how Shiv was such a hero and that he was so handsome, etc. And I would roll my eyes and tell them to stop trying to get me married off. And everything would be normal again.

I sighed, wishing I could turn back time. But that wasn’t going to happen and I had to find something. I started at one end of the room and looked at everything methodically. The picture frames were still in their places on the wall. My mom’s collection of sequined purses hung from their hooks under my baby pictures. I looked at the dresser. Everything was where it should be. I was standing in front of the armoire now, and something clicked in my memory. This was where the demon was standing when I walked in on him. He’d been looking for something in there. I stuck my head in and took a deep whiff. The scent of my mom’s favorite jasmine perfume still lingered, although the demon stench was mingled quite strongly with it. Her jewelry drawer was half open. I pulled it open all the way and scanned the contents. There were velvet boxes of gold jewelry that my mom had collected over the years. Nothing strange here.

Then something caught my eye. There was something stuck in the back of the drawer. Something shiny. I reached in and pulled it out. It was my skull pendant. My mom had bought me a gold chain to hang it on. I’d worn it for a few months and then taken it off one day and forgotten all about it. Until now. I was surprised that she had kept it all these years. But then again, that’s what mom did. She was a hoarder. She never threw anything out, especially if it was something I had worn or liked. I held it in my palm, turning it over, wondering if it meant anything. The
sadhu
who had given it to me all those years ago had said something about my destiny and how I shouldn’t turn away from it. At the time I’d just thought he was a crazy old man. But now, given the recent turn of events, I wondered if there was some deeper meaning to his words. I was pondering what that might be when I noticed my palm was getting warm. I looked down at the pendant. Was it my imagination or was the skull glowing?

“Shiv, come here,” I called out over my shoulder. He was by my side in an instant. “Look...the pendant.” I held out my hand.

“It’s glowing,” he said, taking my hand. “Is your hand okay?” I nodded. I switched the pendant to my other hand and moved away from the window. Yes, it was definitely glowing, and now this hand felt warmer too.

“What do you think it means?” I whispered.

“I don’t know,” he whispered back. “Why are we whispering?”

I shrugged.

“Where did you get the pendant?” he asked, speaking normally again.

“An old
sadhu
gave it to me outside the Kali temple in Kolkata when I was seven. Now that I think about it, he was quite weird.”

“Hmmm, well let’s take it back with us,” Shiv said. “My parents will know if it has any special powers. It’s definitely associated with Kali because of the skull, but they’ll know for sure.”

We looked around some more, but after a while I knew there was nothing more I could find here. I went back to my room and packed an overnight bag with some of my clothes. Then I went to my bathroom to get my toiletries. When I was getting my toothbrush I stopped to look at myself in the mirror. I looked as if I’d been attacked by a raccoon. There were scratches on my face and the stingers from the demon had left nasty-looking puncture wounds all over my neck. I decided to jump in the shower and get cleaned up while I was here. The hot steam felt so good and I realized that every part of my body was sore. I stayed until I remembered that Shiv was just outside and dried off and got dressed in a hurry. It felt good to be clean again. I realized I might not be able to come back for some time, and as I went back down I looked at the pictures that lined the walls. I had to hold back tears when I thought of my parents. I could hear Shiv calling for me, probably beginning to panic. I found him in the kitchen about to go out the back door.